[A Treatment for Drug Dependence not Requiring Specialists: A Treatment Program based on a Workbook, the "SMARPP"]

In Japan, few psychiatric institutions provide rehabilitation for drug dependence, since dependence on illicit drugs including methamphetamine has generally been regarded as a crime and not an illness by Japanese psychiatrists. However, partial revisions of the Penal Code (the Partial Stays of Execution System) are going to be enforced in 2016, and it has been predicted that many illicit drug-dependent convicts will be treated in the community. Accordingly, the expansion of support resources in the community, including psychiatric institutions, is an urgent requirement. The Serigaya Methamphetamine Relapse Prevention Program ("SMARPP"), which consists of once-a-week groups sessions including motivational interviewing attitudes, and cognitive behavioral therapy for relapse prevention following the Matrix model, is expected to be one of the community resources for drug-dependent convicts. This paper introduces the principle and contents of the "SMARPP".